Last week we were counting down the hours until a certain loved one named Pops made his way back to Texas from Florida to spend Easter weekend with us. Our home was bustling with preparation and excitement. Mees and the puppies drove up from San Antonio, and we commenced the weekend together Friday afternoon with Easter egg dying. It was much less messier than last year’s Easter egg dying.

What do all Texans crave after being away from their home State for a number of days? Mexican food, baby! We hit Chuy’s and savored every bite. We rolled out of there with smiles on our faces, but I was crushed that I forgot two wonderful boxes of leftovers in the trunk of the car. Sacrilege! We went to Good Friday service, which was filled with powerful testimonies of the Lord’s grace and healing in the midst of trying, very painful hardships and difficulties…the messiness of this life that we all will walk through.

Saturday was a perfectly relaxing, lazy day at home. Pops and Mees took the boy when he woke up to get their weekend coffee at Starbucks while Matt and I enjoyed lingering in bed. Y’all, I stayed in my PJs all day! Everyone else was dressed, and I ate every meal at the table in my PJs, quite content not to change. After my shower before bed, I went from one set of PJs to another. So yes, I’m the glamorous one in some of these pictures. Saturday was an extended birthday celebration of mine, so that was my excuse <grin>.

For breakfast: Rudy’s tacos.

For snack after naptime: watermelon.

The boy was pretty much inseparable with Pops all weekend, and the puppies were a constant source of entertainment, perfect for an energetic toddler.

My momma labored in love this weekend, making an incredible birthday dinner! We snacked on crackers and cheese with wine spritzers (with special preggo ‘wine’ for me), then feasted on grilled beef kabobs with an assortment of fresh veggies, green chile corn bake, and a huge salad.

For dessert, we indulged in my momma’s homemade chocolate cream pie! Oh, y’all, it’s heavenly! She must know me pretty well and knew I’d enjoy having some extra slices this week, so she made two pies!

We have an extra person this year that had his first slice of chocolate cream pie, so all the more reason to make extra, because Brennan LOVED it! I mean, LOVED it! Here’s some proof (you'll be able to tell we were quite amused by him).

Pie! Mmmm, Pie! from Meg @ Spicy Magnolia on Vimeo.

Easter morning service was beautiful and gloriously celebratory, just as it should be.

By the way, the purple matching colors were not really planned. I bought my dress and Brennan’s outfit, which both happened to be purple but not on purpose. But then once Brennan and I both had purple, I dug out Matt’s purple tie and voila: matchy-matchy! Pops ended up wearing a new purple shirt, too.

Despite wearing a belt, I can never get Brennan’s shirt to stay tucked in.

 I love these two so much!

One of the very few pictures the hubby and I have of just the two of us in recent years <grin>.

I’ll always be a Daddy’s girl.

My boys. My priceless boys.

We went home and had a delectable brunch with a breakfast casserole my momma made; Wolferman’s English muffins (the best ever); an asparagus, tomato, and feta salad; and some lemon raspberry tarts I made. I’ll post some recipes soon; I have a lot to share!

My beautiful momma. We are standing next to my new squirrel-resistant bird feeder. I’m hoping for some regular sightings of cardinals and blue jays.

You might notice the little boy has a very dirty face in the picture above. It’s actually chocolate. He scored another piece of chocolate cream pie, and once again, it was like he was transported to heaven just with a single bite. I scored some lovies by giving him the piece, too.

Daddy had to leave early in the afternoon to head back to Florida and it was very sad to see he and Mees go. I haven’t been this sad about an anticipated event coming to an end in a long time. Brennan and Molly both wanted to leave with them.

After nap time, we gave Brennan his little Easter basket filled with a couple of water guns (which the boys had a blast with this afternoon), plastic tools, and the first ever sewing project I took on with my friend, Emily: a tool belt.

Then we went on a little Easter egg hunt. He was most in love with the plastic eggs filled with chocolate (that’s no surprise), but he also took an interest in the eggs filled with a bit of pocket change to put in his piggy bank.

Molly was interested in the chocolate as well.

Our little cowboy on “Bullseye”, hyped up on nothing else than chocolate!

Hope y’all had a wonderful Easter with your families! May the glory of His resurrection continue to be steeped in your souls.